Diversity made Bangor boys track team a winner, and Morning Call team of year

APRIL BARTHOLOMEW, MORNING CALL FILE PHOTO

Bangor's Shavaughn Morris won two events at the Colonial League championships and qualified for states in two events.

Bangor's Shavaughn Morris won two events at the Colonial League championships and qualified for states in two events. (APRIL BARTHOLOMEW, MORNING CALL FILE PHOTO)

Michael BlouseSpecial to The Morning Call

What made Bangor so successful in boys track this past spring?

The Colonial League boys track and field championship came down to the last event of the season's final dual meet.

"We were down 72-73 but either way we were champions," Bangor coach Mark Hopstetter said. "If we won, we were outright champs and if we lost, we tied for the title. It was a great way to end the season.

"Our kids were determined to win."

Like they'd done in their previous 10 league meets, the Slaters found a way to win.

Bangor's 4 x 400 relay team of Jacob Fries, Evan Ippolito, Brandon Tocket and Tim Ferguson won the race with a time — 3:36.5 — that was three seconds faster than Wilson. Final score: Bangor 77, Wilson 73. The Slaters celebrated the unlikely achievement.

Well, Hopstetter — the program's co-head coach of eight years along with Andy Hartzell — called it unlikely.

"I thought we could be competitive this year," Hopstetter said. "We [practiced] inside for the first five weeks of the season so it was tough to get a good feel. Most people, though, picked us to be around .500. They felt we lost so much but this group stepped up and performed."

Bangor, for its Colonial League regular-season and postseason championships, is The Morning Call's boys track and field team of the year.

Hopstetter said the strength of this season's team was its ability to "cover all of the events." If the Slaters did feature a headline athlete it was Shavaughn Morris, a standout on Bangor's championship basketball team.

Morris, a senior, won both the high jump and 110 hurdles at the league championship meet. Other key contributors included Josh Williams (sprints); Charlie Sell, Tocket and Ippolito (distances); Cam Strohe and Ian Terrette (throws). Both Morris and Strohe qualified for two events at the state meet.

"This was Cam Strohe's first year of track and he picked up 15 feet [in the shot put] from the beginning of the year and went from 100 to 141 feet in the discus," said Hopstetter, who coaches the throws.

According to Hopstetter, this Slaters team was unique because of its bond. He said it will go down as one of his all-time favorite groups.

"They were very coachable, did all we asked of them and they kept improving," Hopstetter said. "They were very supportive of each other, and in all my years, a team had never jelled as much as this one."